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Search Providers

Connect to Azure AI Search services for knowledge base capabilities.

Overview​

Search Providers are connections to Azure AI Search services that power your knowledge base capabilities. Once connected, you can create search indexes that agents use to find and retrieve relevant information when processing emails.

How Search Works in ExecAssist​

Architecture​

Agent needs information
    ↓
Calls search tool (e.g., knowledge_base.search)
    ↓
Query sent to Azure AI Search
    ↓
Relevant documents returned
    ↓
Agent uses information in response

Components​

  • Search Provider - Connection to Azure AI Search service
  • Search Index - Configured index within the provider
  • Search Tool - Agent tool that queries the index

Supported Providers​

Currently, ExecAssist supports:

ProviderDescription
Azure AI SearchMicrosoft's cloud search service with vector and semantic search

Adding a Search Provider​

Prerequisites​

Before adding a provider:

  1. Azure AI Search service created in Azure
  2. Admin API key from the search service
  3. Service endpoint URL

Step-by-Step​

  1. Navigate to Capabilities > Tool Management > Search Tools
  2. Click Add Provider - this opens a dedicated form page
  3. Enter connection details:
FieldDescriptionExample
NameFriendly name"Production Search"
Display NameHuman-readable label"Production Knowledge Base"
EndpointService URLhttps://mysearch.search.windows.net
API KeyAdmin keyabc123...
  1. Click Test Connection to verify connectivity
  2. Review the Azure AI Search Tier Comparison table to understand feature support:
    • Free/Basic: Full-text search only
    • Standard (S1+): Semantic ranking available
    • Standard 2 (S2+): Vector search support
  3. Click Save

Tip: The form page includes a tier comparison table showing which features (semantic search, vector search, hybrid search) are available on each Azure AI Search tier.

Finding Azure AI Search Credentials​

In the Azure Portal:

  1. Navigate to your Azure AI Search resource
  2. Go to Settings > Keys
  3. Copy the Admin key (for full access)
  4. Copy the URL from the Overview page

Managing Providers​

Viewing Providers​

The provider list shows:

  • Name - Your configured name
  • Endpoint - Service URL
  • Status - Connection health
  • Indexes - Number of configured indexes
  • Created - When added

Editing a Provider​

  1. Click on the provider
  2. Update configuration as needed
  3. Click Test Connection to verify
  4. Click Save

Deleting a Provider​

  1. Remove all indexes using this provider first
  2. Click the delete icon
  3. Confirm deletion

Warning: Deleting a provider removes all its search tools from agents.

Provider Status​

Health Indicators​

  • Green (Healthy) - Connected and responding
  • Yellow (Degraded) - Slow responses or partial issues
  • Red (Unhealthy) - Cannot connect

Checking Health​

  1. Go to provider settings
  2. Click Test Connection
  3. Review response time and status

Common Status Issues​

StatusCauseSolution
Connection failedWrong endpointVerify URL
Authentication failedInvalid API keyCheck/regenerate key
TimeoutNetwork issuesCheck connectivity
Service unavailableAzure outageCheck Azure status

Provider Configuration​

Connection Settings​

SettingDescriptionRecommendation
TimeoutRequest timeout30 seconds default
Retry countFailed request retries3 retries
API VersionAzure Search API versionUse latest stable

Security Settings​

  • Use admin keys for index management
  • Consider query-only keys for production
  • Rotate keys periodically
  • Store keys securely (not in code)

Azure AI Search Features​

Supported Capabilities​

ExecAssist leverages these Azure AI Search features:

Full-Text Search:

  • Keyword matching
  • Fuzzy search
  • Wildcard support
  • Boolean queries

Semantic Search:

  • Natural language understanding
  • Conceptual matching
  • Improved relevance

Vector Search:

  • Embedding-based similarity
  • Neural retrieval
  • Hybrid search (text + vector)

Index Requirements​

For ExecAssist integration, indexes should have:

  • Content field (searchable text)
  • Title field (for display)
  • URL or source field (for citation)
  • Vector field (for semantic search)

Cost Considerations​

Azure AI Search Pricing​

Costs depend on:

  • Service tier - Basic, Standard, etc.
  • Replica count - For availability and performance
  • Storage used - Document count and size
  • Query volume - Number of searches

Optimizing Costs​

  1. Right-size your tier for expected usage
  2. Use semantic search selectively (has per-query cost)
  3. Monitor query patterns
  4. Archive unused indexes

Best Practices​

Provider Setup​

  1. Use descriptive names (e.g., "Production Knowledge Base")
  2. Test connection before relying on it
  3. Document what each provider is for
  4. Set appropriate timeouts

Security​

  1. Use separate providers for different security contexts
  2. Rotate API keys regularly
  3. Use query keys for read-only access where possible
  4. Audit search access logs

Performance​

  1. Monitor response times
  2. Use appropriate Azure tier for your scale
  3. Consider geographic placement
  4. Optimize index configuration

Troubleshooting​

Cannot Connect to Provider​

Symptoms: Connection test fails, searches don't work

Solutions:

  1. Verify endpoint URL is correct
  2. Check API key is valid and not expired
  3. Ensure firewall allows outbound HTTPS
  4. Verify Azure service is running

Slow Search Performance​

Symptoms: Searches take too long, timeouts occur

Solutions:

  1. Check Azure service health
  2. Review query complexity
  3. Consider upgrading Azure tier
  4. Optimize index configuration

Authentication Errors​

Symptoms: 401 or 403 errors in logs

Solutions:

  1. Regenerate API key in Azure
  2. Update key in ExecAssist
  3. Verify key has correct permissions
  4. Check for key expiration policies

Search Returns No Results​

Symptoms: Searches succeed but return empty

Solutions:

  1. Verify index has documents
  2. Check search query syntax
  3. Review field mappings
  4. Test search directly in Azure portal

Integration with Indexes​

Once a provider is configured, you can:

  1. Create search indexes pointing to this provider
  2. Configure which indexes agents can search
  3. Build search tools automatically from indexes

See Search Indexes for details.